Strata Oil & Gas Inc. announced today that it has engaged Lorrnel Consultants to assist in the planning and permitting of a drilling program on Strata's 100%-owned Cadotte/Cadotte-West lease blocks in the Peace River region of Alberta.
Lorrnel Consultants ("Lorrnel") will be assisting Strata in submitting an Oil Sands Exploration plan ("OSE") to the Crown prior to the coming winter drilling season, including providing mapping services, third-party consultations, environmental services and project management services. Lorrnel was established in 1982 and specializes in providing services relating to heavy oil exploration programs, geophysical programs, environmental assessments and consultation/negotiation with aboriginal communities. Lorrnel has extensive experience preparing OSE plan applications.
Aerial view of a portion of Strata Oil's Peace River land block
Strata's technical team has identified multiple drilling locations in order to test the extent to which the Bluesky Formation at Cadotte/Cadotte-West has the fluid properties which permit the use of primary production methods. These targets were the result of Strata's technical study which was meant to assess the cold production potential of the Cadotte-West lease block, and determine if there are analogues to the Reno field further to the south which is operated by Baytex Energy using primary recovery cold production methods. Strata's study found that the Bluesky Formation at Cadotte West increases up to 20m to 25m thick, which is the target thickness for potential drill sites, as at Reno. The study also found that, as at Reno, the lease block hosts two or three sand beds of 5m or more thickness each separated by shale units, with the lowest one being the cleanest, and that the shale beds are of thickness similar to those within the Reno field.
Strata Oil's 887 million barrel (recoverable) Cadotte project is planned as a 56,000 barrel-per-day thermal project utilizing CSS (cyclic steam stimulation), and now the Company is also pursuing primary production from the Bluesky sands as an additional potential resource for development. The Peace River Oil Sands region is one of the most prolific areas in the world for primary (non-thermal) production of heavy oil from sands. Several developers in the region have successfully demonstrated Cold Production on their leases, including Murphy Oil, PennWest Exploration, Royal Dutch Shell and Baytex Energy.